Refrigerator cabinet storage compartment construction



D. R. KLOTZ Aug. 16, 1966 REFRIGERATOR CABINET STORAGE COMPARTMENTCONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 12, 1964 INVENTOR. J4me Zr?44.0722

United States Patent 3,266,858 REFRIGERATOR CABINET STORAGE COMPART-MENT CONSTRUCTION David R. Klotz, Livonia, Mien, assignor to AmericanMotors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Maryland Filed Mar.12, 1964, Ser. No. 351,463 Claims. (Cl. 312-270) This invention relatesto refrigerator cabinets in general and more particularly to removableshelves and storage containers provided therein.

Most refrigerators are provided with shelves and food storage containerswhich are removable to facilitate cleaning and for other reasons. Thelarge size storage containers are commonly known as crisper compartmentsor containers because of their use for storing and maintaining thefreshness of leaf vegetables and the like.

It is common practice to provide a pair of crisper drawers in mostrefrigerators and, when possible, to have them side by side in the lowerpart of the food storage compartment. As will be appreciated, this isthe cooler and more humid part of the refrigerator.

Unfortunately, the preferred arrangement is not always possible and oneof the major reasons has been the ob structive overhang of therefrigerator door when open which prevents easy access and removal ofthe crisper drawers. When the refrigerator door is formed to swing intothe food compartment space and has food storage shelves provided on itsinner wall, it protrudes sufiiciently to overhang the compartment spacewhen it is or can only be opened about 90 degrees. Accordingly, acrisper drawer located near the hinge side of the door normally cannotbe completely withdrawn.

Some refrigerator cabinet manufacturers have purposely eliminated thelower food storage shelf on the refrigerator door to avoid theobstruction otherwise provided. Obviously, this is a poor solution sincemaximum food storage space is desirable in a refrigerator.

Although at first blush this seems a relatively simple problem to solve,nothing could be further from the actual fact.

Crisper drawers must be raised up and spaced from bottom, side and backwalls of the storage compartment for good cooling and the circulation ofcooling air thereabout in forced air circulation systems. The cover orcovers thereover should be usable as a food storage shelf. Accordingly,secure support for the covers is necessary. They must also provide areasonably good closure for the crisper compartments or containers.

These and other desirable aspects come readily to mind and make theproblem more complex than at first appreciated.

It is an object of this invention to provide storage container meanswhich are readily removable from a given space despite a partialobstruction of the means of access normally provided thereto.

It is an object of this invention to provide storage container means ina refrigerator cabinet within the space which is normally at leastpartially obstructed by the door, when less than fully open, and tostill be able to remove the container means without difficulty.

More, particularly, it is an object of this invention to provideseparate storage container and cover members side by side in arefrigerator and movable sideways when one is removed so that the othercan also be removed and neither are disturbed by the disposition of therefrigerator door.

Still more particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide apair of separate cover members, which together form a shelf, and whicheach support a crisper compartment drawer thereunder. The covers aresup- 3,266,858 Patented August 16, 1966 ported at their front and backedges on guide rails and are laterly slidable thereon after one thereofis removed. Accordingly, after the drawer furthest from the refrigeratordoor is removed, and its cover is lifted out, the other cover and itsdrawer can be moved over and the drawer can then be fully withdrawnwithout being obstructed by the refrigerator door.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective View of a refrigerator embodying thepresent invention and showing a pair of storage containers and shelvesin the lower part thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front perspective view of the refrigerator ofthe first drawing figure and shows the steps of removing one of thestorage units and shelves.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary and enlarged front perspective view of part ofthe refrigerator of the first drawing figure and shows a further step inthe removal of the shelves and storage containers provided therein.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 1 andshows the storage units pulled forward.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIGURE 4 andshowing the storage units fully retracted within the storage compartmentof the refrigerator.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 5 showing the drawercompartment slid outwardly on its tracks from the storage compartment.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view illustrating the removal of a shelf fromits support after the storage unit has been removed.

Shown in the drawing is a refrigerator cabinet 20 having a food storagecompartment 22 to which access is had through opening 24 closed by adoor 26. The door 26 is mounted to swing on vertical hinges 28.

The door 26 is provided with a plug or dyke section 30 that projectsfrom the inner side of the door into the compartment 22 when the door isclosed. This section 30 is preferably formed with an inwardly openrecess and is provided with spaced vertical shelves 32 for the storageof articles of food thereon that are to be kept refrigerated. Thesection 30 extends into close proximity to the sides of the compartmentabout the opening 24 to minimize air circulation about the opening,particularly where the air is under forced circulation in the compartment.

The door is provided with a suitable gasket 36 that engages about andseals the opening 24 when the door is in closed position.

Upon opening of the door 26, the section 30 can reduce accessibilityinto the compartment 22 particularly when the cabinet 20 is so locatedin a corner of a room that a wall limits the opening of the door todegrees or less. When this occurs the section 30 projects across theopening 24 sufficiently to form an obstruction which limits horizontaloutward sliding movement of articles and, most particularly, preventsremoval of the storage container that is positioned within the lowerpart of the compartment adjacent to the hinge side of the door.

The present invention provides an arrangement that permits a fulloutward sliding of such a container for greater ease in its removal fromthe cabinet.

The compartment 22 is formed by a liner 40 having a bottom wall 42, arear wall 44 and side walls 46 which are in spaced parallel relation toadjacent walls of an outer shell 36 between which are placed suitableheat insulation material 47.

The compartment 22 is provided with a plurality of vertically spacedshelves 48. The lower shelf in the compartment comprising a pair ofimperforate shelf sections 50, 52 which are arranged in a side by sidesupported arrangement. Each of the shelf sections 50, 52 slidinglysupport respective storage containers 54, 56.

The shelf sections 50, 52 may, if desired, be located at any verticalposition within the compartment.

Each shelf 50, 52 is supported at its rear edge on guides 60 and at itsforward or front edge on a guide rail or member 62. The guides 60comprise a plurality of segments 63 formed integrally with the rearliner Wall 44 and which are horizontally spaced along the wall 44 toserve to guide the sliding movement of each shelf supported thereon. Thefront guide rail or member 62 is in the horizontal plane of the guide 60and extends in spaced parallel relation thereto. The opposite ends ofthe guide member 62 are supported in pockets or openings 64 formed inrespective brackets 66 which are suitably secured by screws to therespective side walls :6 of the compartment.

Each shelf 50, 52 is similarly formed. It is preferably moulded ofplastic material to provide an imperforate shelf area with integrallyformed parallel guide rails 70, 72 on the underside of the shelf. Therails 70, 72 extend longitudinally along respective side edges of theshelves and substantially from the front to the rear edges thereof.

The storage containers 54, 56 are each formed with flanges 74 whichextend longitudinally and outward along each side thereof and areadapted to be received on a respective rail 70, 72 of a shelf fordepending support therebelow. Each flange 74 is formed to include adepression which forms a glide button 76 that contacts the rail andfacilitates easy sliding movement for the container. They also serve asa stop to limit outward drawer-pull withdrawal movement of thecontainers from beneath the shelves by abutment against a shoulder 78provided adjacent the front portion of each rail 70, 72. The opposite orrear end of each rail terminates at an abutment 80 paralleling the rearedge of the shelf and it serves to limit and stop retracted movement ofeach of the containers in a position whereby each shelf serves as acover for its respective container. The shelf, as a cover for acontainer, is such as permits limited air circulation from thecompartment int-o the container and the shelves, when in side by sidearrangement, are spaced from the adjacent liner walls to allow aircirculation to pass downwardly therebetween and about the outer sides ofthe container for cooling the contents therein.

To prevent unintentional forward sliding movement of the shelves, thefront edge supporting bar 62 is formed with an upwardly extendingvertical ridge 82 against which the front edge of the shelves abut andare held.

A recess or groove 84 is formed to extend longitudinally along the rearedge of each shelf and is adapted to receive therein the guide 60. Thegroove 84 extends the full width of each shelf and is open at each endto permit free lateral sliding movement of the shelf on the guides formovement from one side wall to the opposing side wall. Though the guide66 is shown as including segments 63 it will be obvious that it may be acontinuous member extending the full width of the rear wall from sidewall .to side wall or, instead of being formed integral with the rearwall, it might be a separate attachable member.

Each storage container 54, 56 is slidable outwardly on its respectiveguide rails from beneath its cover or shelf 50, 52 and if the door 26 isfully open, beyond 90 degrees, both containers may be readily removedfrom the compartment through the opening 24. To remove the containersfrom their respective guide rails they are pulled out until the glidebuttons 76 reach the shoulders 78 and then the forward end of thecontainer is tilted upwardly, or the back end may be raised, to permitthe part 76 to ride over the shoulder 78 and out through the forwardopen end of the guide rails.

When the compartment door 26 is limited to an opening movement ofdegrees or less the containers 54, 56 are limited in their outwardsliding movement by the overhang of the plug section 30 of the door.Although this limited movement of the container does allow some accessinto the container it prevents full removal.

To facilitate the removal of the container 52, the user first removesthe container 54 from beneath the shelf 50, then removes the shelf 50from its supports by lifting the forward edge of the shelf above theridge section 82 of the bar 64, see FIGURE 7, and then draws the shelfforward to disengage the groove 84 from the guides 60. Following removalof the shelf 50, the shelf 52 is slid laterally on its guides until itis beyond the line of obstruction offered by the door, or until it hasbeen located in the space vacated by the removed shelf and container.Once the shelf 52. has been moved out of the line of obstruction, seeFIGURE 3, the container 56 may be readily removed from beneath itssupporting shelf and from the compartment.

The shelves 5t), 52 and containers 54, 56 are interchangeable, eachbeing formed identical in construction so that should both shelves andcontainers be removed from the compartment either shelf may be firstreinstated on the supports to occupy either position and each shelf mayreceive either container irrespective of what position it occupies onthe supports.

Although only a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated andthat form described in detail, it Will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that various modifications may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a storage compartment space, the improvement comprising:

a pair of horizontally disposed laterally extended parallel spaced guiderails,

cover members received and supported on said guide rails for lateralslide movement and each including drawer slide supports extending belowthe plane of said guide rails,

drawer members having drawer slide engagement with the supports of saidcover members and being adapted for drawer-pull disengagement therefrom,said cover and drawer members being interchangeable,

and said cover members in combination extending between the ends of saidguide rails and being laterally immobile for providing a relativelyfixed storage space shelf.

2. The storage compartment improvement of claim 1,

said cover members being individually removable from engagement withsaid guide rails and being laterally slidable into the positionpreviously occupied by another thereof following its removal.

3. In a refrigerator cabinet having a food storage compartment capableof being obscured in part by a compartrnent door overhanging one side ofthe front opening thereof, the improvement in storage containerconstruction, comprising:

first and second storage container receptive spaces in side by sidearrangement and extending across a food storage compartment space,

first and second shelf providing means disposed respectively over saidfirst and second storage container receptive spaces, fixed means forsupporting said first and second shelf providing means for independentlateral slide movement over said storage container receptive spaces,

and first and second storage containers receptive in said spaces indrawer slide supported engagement with said shelf providing means,

said first storage container being unobstructively removable from saidfirst space and from engagement with said first shelf providing means,

and said first shelf providing means being subsequently removable fromover said first space and said second shelf providing means beinglaterally slideable and carrying said second storage container therewithinto said first container receptive space for subsequent unobstructedremoval therefrom.

4. The storage container construction of claim 3,

said fixed means for supporting said first and second shelf providingmeans including a guide rail receptive of the front edge thereof andhaving an outer disposed ridge restraining said shelf means againsttransverse movement with said containers,

and said shelf providing means each including a groove formed in theback edge thereof and extending the width thereof for receiving other ofsaid fixed supporting means therein and requiring that said storagecontainers be disengaged from said shelf providing means to allowlifting the front edges of said shelf providing means from said guiderails and the tilting thereof prior to disengagement therefrom.

5. A refrigerator cabinet, comprising:

a food storage compartment including an opening affording access theretoand a vertically hinged door for closing said opening,

said door being partially received in said compartment when closing saidopening and overhanging one side of said opening when less than fullyopen,

a food storage container receptive space provided across said foodstorage compartment and including a food storage shelf defining theupper wall thereof,

fixed means provided in said food storage compartment for supporting theback and front edges of said storage shelf,

said storage shelf including a pair of separate and interchangeablecover members providing a laterally immobile shelf together on saidsupporting means,

said shelf supporting means including a guide rail receptive of thefront edges of said cover members for support and lateral slide movementthereon and having an outer disposed ridge precluding inadvertenttransverse movement thereof through said access opening,

said cover members including a groove provided in the back edge andextending the Width thereof for receiving the means supporting the backedges thereof for lateral movement relative thereto,

depending side rails provided on said cover members and extending belowthe plane of the guide rail supporting the front edges thereof,

upwardly open food storage containers having means provided on the sideWalls thereof for cooperative drawer-slide engagement with the dependingside rails of said cover members,

said containers being received and supported by respective of said covermembers in spaced relation to each other and the walls of the foodstorage compartment in which disposed,

avoidable stop means cooperatively provided between said cover siderails and said containers for the disengagement of one from the otherthereof,

said container members having a width permissive of the passage thereofthrough the side of said storage compartment opening unobstructed bysaid door when less than fully open,

said cover members being removable from said supporting means upondisengagement of said container members therefrom,

and said cover member and container next adjacent said door beinglaterally adjustable, following the removal of the other of saidcontainers and cover member, into a position unobstructed by theoverhang of said compartment door for the full removal of said containertherefrom.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,108,455 10/1963Hanson 312308 X CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner.

F. DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A STORAGE COMPARTMENT SPACE, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: A PAIR OFHORIZONTALLY DISPOSED LATERALLY EXTENDED PARALLEL SPACED GUIDE RAILS,COVER MEMBERS RECEIVED AND SUPPORTED ON SAID GUIDE RAILS FOR LATERALSLIDE MOVEMENT AND EACH INCLUDING DRAWER SLIDE SUPPORTS EXTENDING BELOWTHE PLANE OF SAID GUIDE RAILS, DRAWER MEMBERS HAVING DRAWER SLIDEENGAGEMENT WITH THE SUPPORTS OF SAID COVER MEMBERS AND BEING ADAPTED FORDRAWER-PULL DISENGAGEMENT THEREFROM, SAID COVER AND DRAWER MEMBERS BEINGINTERCHANGEABLE, AND SAID COVER MEMBERS IN COMBINATION EXTENDING BETWEENTHE ENDS OF SAID GUIDE RAILS AND BEING LATERALLY IMMOBILE FOR PROVIDINGA RELATIVELY FIXED STORAGE SPACE SHELF.